Ugh… my head was throbbing violently, as if something had just struck it from the inside. The sensation went far deeper than ordinary pain, pulsing in rhythm with my heartbeat, heavy and pressing from behind my skull.
I tried to piece together my memories, which felt shattered, drifting in scattered fragments without direction.
But the more I forced them to come together, the sharper the pain became, stabbing through my mind and making my thoughts tremble while my breathing grew slightly uneven.
Today, I was supposed to go meet my boss to see a client, a routine I had done so many times it had become almost reflexive, something I no longer needed to consciously think about.
Everything had been flowing like pieces of an automatic life, flat and without any lingering emotion.
Until that moment was abruptly cut off in the middle, as if something had forcibly erased it without warning.
I could still remember it clearly enough to make my chest tighten, the moment my boss and I stood by the roadside, waiting for a taxi that never seemed to arrive.
The sidewalk felt warm through the soles of my shoes, holding the lingering heat of the midday sun. The shadows of buildings stretched long over the asphalt, slightly wavering due to heat distortion, while people passed by us without really noticing.
Nothing felt strange at first, just a casual conversation that now sounded faint in my memory, fragments of sentences lost before they could be fully understood.
The city atmosphere remained as usual, alive and never stopping. Vehicles passed by continuously, the sound of engines mixing with occasional horns that cut through the air, sharp and brief, like minor disturbances easily ignored.
The midday wind blew slowly, warm and slightly sticky, carrying the smell of asphalt, dust, and exhaust fumes.
My shirt had begun to cling to my back, a thin layer of sweat making it uncomfortable, though it was too ordinary to pay attention to.
Until something changed. A truck suddenly appeared at the edge of my vision, moving at a speed that felt wrong, too fast, too out of control for a road like that.
The truck’s movement was unstable, as if it had lost its direction. Its front tires trembled slightly, and the massive body of the vehicle looked like it could slip at any moment.
The sound of tires screeched loudly, rough as they scraped against the asphalt, while the engine roared unevenly, rising and falling as if forced beyond its limits, creating a sound that made my skin crawl.
In a split second, the vibration from the vehicle could be felt through the ground, traveling up to the soles of my feet, delivering a warning that came too late.
My reflex moved faster than my thoughts. My body took over, as if it had already decided without needing my conscious approval.
I pushed my boss, the woman, with all my strength, without thinking of anything other than getting her out of the collision path.
The touch of my hand felt real, that push was strong, filled with a force I hadn’t even realized I had, and after that… everything disappeared.
There was no impact sound, no screams, no blinding light. Only emptiness, where absolute silence swallowed everything, as if the world had been turned off without transition.
There was no direction, no time, only a void that made my consciousness feel like it was floating without any ground beneath it.
So… where is this?
When I slowly opened my eyes, my vision was blurry, as if a thin layer was covering everything.
It felt like I had just risen from the depths of water, my body heavy, my breathing deeper than usual.
I blinked a few times, trying to adjust. Light slowly began to enter, gradually forming lines and shadows that were still unclear.
When everything finally came into focus, what I saw was not a city road, not tall buildings, not the usual crowds.
It was a forest—silent, unfamiliar, and far too real.
Tall trees stretched in every direction, their trunks thick with rough surfaces, filled with natural grooves and cracks. Some were covered with a thin layer of moss that gave off a dull greenish tint.
Massive roots protruded from the ground, spreading like giant veins gripping the surface tightly. Some even coiled above the soil, forming irregular shapes.
The canopy of leaves above was far too dense, sealing off the sky almost completely. Only thin slivers of sunlight managed to pierce through small gaps, spilling down onto the ground in broken, narrow lines that formed shifting patterns of shadow.
The ground beneath my feet felt damp and slightly soft, as if it hadn’t been disturbed for a long time. Fallen leaves mixed with wet soil, releasing a strong scent that was both calming and strangely unfamiliar at the same time.
The air here was different—colder, heavier, and dense as it filled my lungs. There was the smell of wet earth, old wood, moss, and something sharper underneath it all, faint but distinct enough to keep my senses on alert.
Every breath I took felt deeper than usual, as if my lungs were being forced to adapt to air that didn’t belong to any world I knew.
I lowered my gaze slowly. My movements felt stiff, unnatural, and that was when another strangeness became clear—not just from the environment, but from my own body.
This body… didn’t feel entirely like mine.
The clothes I was wearing were no longer the usual work suit I remembered. Instead of neat, suffocating formal fabric, it was a simple black T-shirt hanging loosely over my shoulders. The material felt thin, slightly rough against my skin.
Dark sports pants clung uncomfortably to my legs, while the wooden sandals on my feet felt rigid and hard every time I shifted my weight.
I tried moving my toes slowly, but the sensation felt off, like there was a slight delay between my intention and the actual movement, as if my body wasn’t fully synchronized with my consciousness.
As if my entire identity had been replaced without explanation, without transition, without even the smallest sense of continuity—simply moved like an object that no longer mattered.
My heart beat a little faster, not out of panic, but from a growing discomfort that spread quietly through my chest.
Then, without warning, a voice echoed inside my head. At the same time, a transparent screen appeared in front of me, floating in midair without touching anything, yet still clearly visible.
[Congratulations! You have obtained a second life! You are currently in one of the Naruto worlds. As an apology for your unintended death, you have been granted a second chance to live in the Naruto world!]
The voice did not come from outside. It didn’t pass through my ears or echo through the air. It formed directly inside my consciousness, as if my own thoughts were being forced to receive information that didn’t originate from me.
I didn’t even have time to react, not even to question it.
[In addition, you have received three rewards from the reincarnation and transmigration system! The first reward: you have obtained the Uzumaki bloodline!]
My head throbbed again, deeper this time, heavier, as if something was being forcibly pressed into my mind.
[This grants you a strong body, enhanced regeneration, a high affinity for learning fūinjutsu, wind-element affinity, and an enormous amount of chakra!]
Each word felt like a weight—not just information, but pressure embedded inside it, filling spaces that should have remained empty.
[The second reward: you have obtained the Uchiha bloodline! This gives you the potential to awaken the Rinnegan, strong genjutsu talent, high proficiency in shuriken and kunai throwing, fire and lightning affinities, and a pair of Sharingan!]
The throbbing in my head became unbearable, as if something inside was being forcibly reconstructed, reshaping something invisible from the inside out.
[The third reward: a unique pair of Mangekyō Sharingan! Due to your Uzumaki bloodline, your Mangekyō will not go blind. In addition, your Mangekyō will be activated soon!]
“Aaarrrggghhh!” I dropped to my knees hard, my legs slamming into the damp ground. But the pain from the impact meant nothing compared to what was happening inside my body.
[Note: This is my other novel: As a Blacksmith in the World of Jujutsu Kaisen. As the White Spider-Man in Earth-76 with the Spider-Man System]